La Liga: Getafe vs Alavés! Two tough fighters meet, why is it hard for Getafe to stay strong?

Our first topic today isLa Liga: Getafe vs Alavés!

This is a very unusual matchup,both teams are famous for their physical strength, very tough bodies but terrible in open play.

So there’s a strange situation —in their last four matches over two seasons, not a single open play goal was scored! Zero!All goals came from penalties or set pieces.

Both are tough fighters, but there are differences; historically, Getafe has dominated their head-to-head record.

But history sometimes is meant to be brokenand Getafe nowadays might not be as tough as before.

In the past, the name Getafe probably brought to mind a group of muscular, burly men — match results aside, they never feared physical battles.

Especially in aerial duels, a traditional strength, Getafe never backs down.

Last season, they averaged 20.8 successful aerial duels per game, ranking first in La Liga, while Alavés was only third.

So it’s understandable that Alavés couldn’t win; both rely on physicality, but if your body strength is inferior, your biggest advantage turns into a disadvantage, making it hard to compete.

But this season, things have completely reversed.

Here’s a shocking fact:So far, Getafe’s aerial duel success rate is the lowest in La Liga, the only one under 40%!

Why such a dramatic change?

It might be because they cut too deep in personnel.

This summer transfer window,they actually sold all their top four players in aerial duels from last season!

A football team fields only 11 players, including 1 goalkeeper, so just 10 outfield players.

Getafe sold off 4 of their strongest aerial players at once? That’s a huge step!

So the sharp decline in aerial ability is understandable.

Of course, it’s also clear why they sold so aggressively.

The offers were simply too good — Uche was sold for the club’s second highest fee, Alderete for the sixth highest, which is a substantial income.

We can also see that Getafe’s wage bill has risen significantly this season, thanks to the increased revenue.

But while they gained financially, they have to pay a price in sporting terms.

Many of the sold players had obvious impacts last season.

For example, when Uche missed 5 matches and played less than half in 2 others, Getafe lost all 7 games!

Alderete missed 4 matches last season, and Getafe managed only 1 draw and 3 losses, which was also rough.

So far, the new signings haven’t compensated for the loss in fighting power.

Of course,Getafe only spent 1.8 million on new players— it would be surprising if they could fully replace those losses.

There’s an even worse situation today —the season’s surprise and rising star striker Liso has been called up to the U20 national team.

Getafe has scored only 6 goals this season, and Liso alone scored 3 of themso his role is quite important.

Without him, Getafe’s already weak attack might get even worse.

Actually, Getafe’s last win over Alavés was very controversial.

The referee awarded Getafe a somewhat soft penalty:

and possibly missed a penalty for Alavés, which upset the fans and may have affected the match beyond pure skill.

Although the historical head-to-head record is one-sided, the actual strength gap between the two teams isn’t that big.

Now, after losing many key players, it’s hard to say who is stronger.

Therefore, the big experts’ lack of firm confidence in Getafe makes sense.

Can Alavés satisfy their fans? What do you think? We hope they at least avoid defeat!

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will still send text analysis tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. “Watch the game clearly,” see you then!

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